I have often said that beers can be like old friends. You meet a lot of new ones in your years, but you always come back to a certain few that you can share fond memories with and that really are special to you. Sierra Nevada Brewing has been producing beers since the early days of the craft beer movement, some of which were among my very first beer friends. Founded in 1981, Sierra Nevada is perhaps second only to Anchor in my estimation as most sacred of domestic craft brewers.

One of my favored beers from Sierra Nevada has always been the porter. I fondly recall drinking this beer before I knew what the heck porter was back in the eighties. I did know I liked it, and I was not alone. This was a beer to be savored, in a time when such beers were few and far between. Even today, when we take for granted walking into the local beer store and being presented by a wide array of beers and many porters, Sierra Nevada's is still a treat.

Famed English beer writer Michael Jackson once called Sierra Nevada Porter ""...among the best brewed anywhere in the world." I wholeheartedly agree. One drawback to Sierra Nevada beers in my opinion is that they have no freshness dating, but their cases are stamped with a bottling date. When I recently visited a local liquor store and saw cases of Sierra Nevada stout and porter bottled in September of this year, I quickly tore into them and brought home a six-pack of each.

Sierra Nevada Porter pours to a deep black color with a rich, creamy tan head and a slightly roasty, grassy hop nose. The palate brings forth more roasted, coffeeish character with strong, pudding-like chocolate notes and an emerging grassy-minty, spruce-tasting hop finish. A pleasant bitterness lingers on the tongue after drinking. A wonderfully robust porter, perfect for a nightcap or two.

Update February 16, 2011:  These days I don't see Sierra Nevada Porter around as much as I used to, and I'm not sure why that is. So, when I saw a six-pack at Green's Liquors in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, I snapped it up posthaste. The beer is the same as it ever was, pouring to a dark cola color with a light creamy tan head and a light roasty nose. The palate is wonderfully creamy with undertones of roasted malt, chocolate pudding, and coffee. That herbal, minty-grassy hop character I described ten years ago doesn't seem to have changed at all, and that lingering bitterness is still present too. I'm happy to say this porter is enjoyable today as it was the first time I tasted it decades ago.

If you haven't tried it yet, what are you waiting for?

Home